Amtrak adds local train for the day after Thanksgiving

In anticipation of its busiest travel week of the year, Amtrak is adding an Illinois round-trip train originating at mid-day on Nov. 25, the Sunday after Thanksgiving.

Amtrak will offer one additional eastbound (Train 384) and one additional westbound (Train 385) frequency on the Chicago-Quincy corridor, via Kewanee, Galesburg and Macomb. The eastbound train is scheduled to stop in Kewanee at 2:42 p.m., and the westbound train at 1:39 p.m.

Ordinarily, Amtrak offers two daily morning and evening round-trips, the Illinois Zephyr (Trains 380 and 383) and the Carl Sandburg (Trains 381 and 382) that travel the full length of the corridor, plus some additional Amtrak service at Galesburg, Princeton or Mendota provided by the Southwest Chief (Trains 3 and 4) and California Zephyr (Trains 5 and 6).

In order to accommodate the additional round-trip on Nov. 25, Train 383 will depart Chicago 20 minutes later than usual and operate on a modified schedule to Quincy that day only. It is scheduled to arrive in Kewanee at 8:24 p.m.

Ridership on the Chicago-Quincy corridor rose four percent in the last year, to total more than 265,000 passengers.